Ethical Theory Analysis

Running head: ETHICAL THEORY ANALYSIS
ETHICAL THEORY ANALYSIS
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ETHICAL THEORY ANALYSIS
Assignment 4: explanation of argument and discussion on ethical theory
Programmers are having a huge discussion about the unethical and illegal things they've been
asked to do
According to the case study as reported in business insider in article titled “Programmers are having
a huge discussion about the unethical and illegal things they've been asked to do”, it was revealed
by an intern that when he was doing his internship, he was asked to create a website from a source
code that was copied from somewhere else. When he objected to this, he was told by the company
that it is only used for demonstrating the software to a client. However, it is important to note that
ethical nature of any activity does not depends on purpose, it depends on way that activity is
executed. When someone else create a code it is his or her own property, because when a code is
created it involves his or her original thinking. However it should be noted that algorithm that
provides the context for code implementation varies according to the thinking level of
programmers.
Now the company might object to this argument with logic that a code that is considered to be
original might be copied from somewhere else. Logic behind this kind of argument is that code for
designing website are easily accessible from open sources and community forum as community
forums aims to develop a stronger team through sharing ideas regarding coding and technologies.
No matter whether the source code is copied from somewhere else, stealing the code is still not
ethically justified.
According to the utilitarianism ethical theory, an action is ethical if it produce the greatest goods for
the greatest numbers. However, when the company ask the intern to design website from the copied
code, it certainly does not going to provide any good to anyone. In fact if it is later revealed that the
code was copied and the owner of the source code sues the company, the company might face legal
action along with the intern and the client company. Hence this act does not ensure good for the
greatest and hence according to this theory, this is not an ethical decision.